Fitting in is overrated

Cluttered Places

I am burdened with the need to put things in order and generally keep things clean and clear of clutter. Why is this a burden? Because I see clutter and mess as it’s happening, I even foresee messes and do what I can to avoid them. There are times that I wish I could just “not see” the clutter, the mess. No matter how hard I try to ignore a mess, I simply cannot and I find myself succumbing to keeping the house clean. While this is my way of keeping things in order for the most part, there are places that I, knowingly, omit from my cleaning obsession.

Take, for example, the silverware drawer. I don’t have a good holder for silverware. The holder that I have in the drawer is in two separate pieces and even though it is meant to be that way, it comes apart and holds everything precariously. It isn’t uncommon to see spoons mingling with forks and so on. When I realised that there was no way to get my silverware holder to work properly, I adjusted and now live with it the way it is. Yes, it irritates me but I can close the drawer and forget about it!

Even though I can close that drawer and temporarily forget the mess that lies within, there are still times that I have to confront the silverware drawer. Strange things have a way of finding their way to this drawer that shouldn’t be there: toothbrushes, pens, and pencils. Unless I confront that silverware drawer and clean it up, it will never get done.

Another area that tries to escape my craving for order is the kitchen pantry. My people at home have an obsession with looking in the pantry and examining if anything has changed in the past ten minutes since they looked at it last. Originally, my pantry was organized (much like my silverware drawer) and it looked amazing. When I had organized it for the first time, I stood back feeling like a professional and declared there was no pantry organized like mine.

Fast-forward three months. I am happy if the door opens and closes without a box falling out. My people.

Unless I confront the pantry and its contents, it will never get put in order.

“You cannot conquer what you will not confront.” Chris Hill

When it comes to the word “confront” we immediately get a negative vibe in our gut. The kind of confronting I’m talking about today concerns confronting the cluttered closets of our souls. If we won’t confront those things cluttering us inside, we’ll never overcome them.

It might seem that the solution is to forget it – but if it keeps eating at you, then you need to confront it.

Maybe you need to forgive someone?

Maybe you need to apologise to someone?

Maybe you have allowed life to push God out of your daily routine?

Cleaning up and organising the clutter may take some humility, bravery, and willingness to “face” whatever music may come with cleaning the clutter. Just ignoring it, though, won’t help it go away. There will come a day that the clutter will overflow and demand attention.